1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exercise devices, specifically to an exercise apparatus and method of use, the apparatus comprising a stationary base member; a freely rotatable rectangular foot support centrally attached to the top surface of the base member and having a foot placement area that is adjustable in width to align an operator's feet with his or her shoulders during use, the foot support also having an upper surface that is angled laterally upward from its center to place a major portion of the operator's weight on the inside portion of each foot during foot support rotation; as well as a height adjustable upper torso support pivotally attached to the top surface of the base member near to one of its ends that remains stationary during foot support rotation and by which an operator can support his or her upper body in a substantially stationary position while the operator's lower torso and legs are alternatively made to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise. The apparatus allows the operator to stretch and strengthen arm, shoulder, hip, back, leg, and foot muscles as the operator's weight is shifted alternatively from the inside bottom surface of one foot to the inside bottom surface of the other foot while his or her lower torso and legs are rapidly, smoothly, and repetitively rotated back and forth through an arc of approximately 180.degree. in each direction. In a slightly bent knee position, operator movement during use of the present invention simulates that required in many sports activities and gives athletes a high number of muscle movement repetitions in a short period of time to condition and tone targeted muscles to allow the muscles to rapidly achieve the level of experience necessary for improved sports performance, as well as improvement in operator balance, agility, and forward thrusting power. Applications may include, but are not limited to, use to achieve increased torso flexibility, as well as conditioning and warm up exercise for athletic activities, such as golf, tennis, basketball, football, baseball, softball, soccer, boxing, skating, skiing, and dancing.
2. Background--Description of Prior Art
To reach optimum performance in a chosen sport, overall athlete conditioning and endurance are important. However, each sport places added demands on particular groups of muscles. For example, in basketball extra demand is placed upon the wrist flexors, hamstrings, hip flexors, biceps, and calves; in swimming extra demand is placed upon the biceps, wrist flexors, chest, quadriceps, neck rotators, and shoulder rotators; in jogging the extra demand is placed upon the hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps, hip flexors, and lower back; and in golf the extra demand is placed upon the biceps, wrist flexors, trunk rotators, hip rotators, lower back, rib cage, neck flexors, neck extensors, and hip flexors. It is the muscles used most often to which the athlete must pay particular attention during training to obtain the extra power and strength needed for outstanding achievement in the chosen sport, as well as to remain injury free. The strength and power of shoulders and arms, as well as torso flexibility, are important to success in many athletic activities, including golf, tennis, basketball, football, baseball, softball, soccer, boxing, skating, skiing, and dancing. An athlete with enhanced torso flexibility is more readily able to follow through in a golf swing, in throwing a football or baseball, when at bat, when landing a boxing jab or punch, or during a basketball free throw. Exercise apparatus that closely duplicates actual athlete movement during a chosen sport is particularly useful during muscle conditioning for providing the strength and power later needed during a sports performance.
Torso twisting exercise devices are known, however they typically have a small rotatable upper surface upon which the operator must stand that does not permit the operator's feet to be aligned with his or her shoulders during lower torso and leg rotation. When the operator's feet are not so aligned, the operator's body will tend to sway during lower torso rotation and the athlete's muscles will not be trained to achieve optimum performance and power. Also, many prior art torso twisting devices have too much friction that prevents them from providing the smooth freely twisting motion in an arc of 180.degree. or more in each direction that would allow the operator to optimally stretch and condition his or her arm, shoulder, hip, back, leg, and foot muscles for maximum power during swinging, throwing, punching, and related sports activities.
In contrast, the freely rotating foot support of the present invention has a large width-adjustable upper surface usable by operators of almost all statures and foot sizes. Short walls upwardly depending from the perimeter of its upper surface serve multiple purposes. They promote operator safety by helping to keep the operator's feet from inadvertently moving off of the upper surface during operator mounting of and dismount from the apparatus, as well as during lower torso and leg rotation. Each of the four walls extends around one of the corners of the foot support and is separated from adjacent walls by an opening slightly larger than the width dimension of the upper torso support. The centrally positioned and opposed wall openings allow the upper torso support in its collapsed position to keep the foot support from freely rotating during transport and storage. In addition, the foot support walls also provide a means for adjustably narrowing the width of the upper surface to customize it so that successive operators of differing stature are each able to achieve the optimum stability and balance during lower torso and leg rotation for maximum torso twisting effect. Operators having a very large stature might be able to use the foot support walls themselves as a stabilizing hard surface for the outside edges of their feet during lower torso and leg rotation to help them in maintaining optimum balance as well as continual alignment of feet and shoulders. However, smaller operators relying on the same walls for foot stabilization would not have their feet aligned with their shoulders. Therefore, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides six or seven sets of opposed vertical grooves on the inside surfaces of the walls in front of and behind each operator foot, as well as two rigid bars having a thickness dimension slightly smaller than the width of the grooves. Immediately prior to use, if the operator needs a narrower upper surface for stability and optimum foot placement, the operator would place one of the rigid bars on each side of the foot support within the opposed grooves that most closely line up with the outside edges of the operator's feet in their desired shoulder-aligned position. The upper surface of its foot support which is laterally angled upward, further distinguishes the present invention from prior art torso twisting exercise devices. In the present invention both sides of the upper surface of the foot support are laterally angled upward approximately 10-20.degree. to place both of the operator's feet in positions that duplicate the positions athletes often encounter when their body weight is shifted from the inside surface of the ball of one foot to the inside surface of the ball of the other foot. No exercise device is known that provides all of its advantages of the present invention, or functions in the same manner as the present invention to accomplish the objectives stated herein.